By Nick Sheridan ’25
America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, praised for our equality and how well our people live. But really “More than 26,000 Americans die each year” due to the fact that they can’t afford healthcare to cure their health problems (National Institutes of Health). The U.S. is one of the most successful and wealthy countries in the world. The nations of the world see us as a global leader, and yet we don’t even give our citizens free healthcare. But why doesn’t America offer free healthcare? Does everyone want it? Where would the money come from? Would the quality of your care stay the same?
Universal healthcare would mean that the people in The United States wouldn’t have to pay at all to get medical care. Wouldn’t everyone want it? In reality a lot of citizens don’t like the idea of free healthcare for a few reasons. One of which is that there would probably be less pay in the field of healthcare, so, “It Could Diminish the Quality of Care People Receive” (“PROS AND CONS OF UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE AKA MEDICARE FOR ALL”). While healthcare would be more accessible, a lot of the care you get wouldn’t be as good as it is now.
Another reason for controversy on this topic is the fact that “Universal health care would increase wait times for basic care” (“Pro and Con: Right to Health Care”). Many citizens don’t want to wait longer than they already have to. Even those who do want healthcare are divided. The issue of where the money comes from is another controversy within the universal healthcare debate. A census showed that, “A majority saying the government should ensure that all Americans have coverage but preferring that the system be funded privately” (“Key Facts about the Uninsured Population”). So the debate of whether or not universal healthcare is right for America goes a lot deeper than if free healthcare is good or not.
Even though the desire of the citizens is for a private organization to fund a national project like this, it isn’t very realistic. Many organizations would not be willing to pay their money to support universal healthcare and just a few would not be enough with universal healthcare costing billions of dollars in the U.S. The money would still have to come from somewhere. And the only option left is the government and citizens. In other words, “Universal health care would raise costs for the federal government and, in turn, taxpayers” (“Should the U.S. Government Provide Universal Health Care?”). Since the government would need a lot of money to give free healthcare, taxes would be increased and we’d be paying for other people’s healthcare, some citizens can’t afford to live with higher taxes. Our taxes would probably not be able to fully cover the costs of universal healthcare. Some of the money would have to come from the government itself. Unfortunately, the American Government doesn’t have money to spare, “The United States Government is already heavily in debt and the development of universal health care would cost trillions over a ten-year period” (“Why Doesn’t the US Have Universal Healthcare?”).
America is known around the world as a lot of things, one of which is the free country. After our revolution against the English government, we have been strongly against any kind of government control or overreach onto our daily lives. For this reason, a lot of citizens don’t want the government to control their healthcare. In other words, “Universal healthcare is a politically charged issue, with some people arguing that it would represent government overreach” (“Why Doesn’t the US Have Universal Healthcare?”). America as a whole is built on our citizens being self-sufficient. If the government held our hands in healthcare, we may begin to desire help in more areas of our lives. Then some of the independence that this country was built on, would be lost.
Another reason for the lack of government support in healthcare may be due to racism. Today, racism is an unfortunately common topic with new cases coming up all the time. The racism behind some people not wanting healthcare is a lot deeper than just not liking people of color. Free healthcare would largely benefit people of color since they make up a majority of lower class citizens (“RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES AMONG LOW-INCOME FAMILIES”). This isn’t just an assumption because, many southern states have said they do not want universal healthcare, although they don’t say it, this may be because of racism dating back to the late 1800’s (Why doesn’t the United States have universal health care? The answer has everything to do with race). This of course doesn’t mean that every person who doesn’t support free healthcare is a racist, it just shows one of the reasons that people may not support universal healthcare.
Supporters of universal healthcare could bring up the point that it could help a lot of people and, well, it’s free. But as I’ve stated, it isn’t free, and would lead to higher taxes that some people just can’t afford. As far as helping a lot of people, the quality of everyone’s care would get worse and you’d have to wait a lot longer to get treatment, even for emergencies. But we live in America, where we can all have our opinions, so as a citizen you can decide your stance on any matter, even universal healthcare.
The Raider Press 